With a collaborative approach toward tackling today’s sustainable mobility issues, Michelin kicked off its 2021 Movin’On Summit with a message of unity: “Taking on mobility challenges is much easier together,” Michelin CEO and Movin’On President Florent Menegeux told the virtual crowd in his opening remarks.

The Movin’On Challenge Design’s 2021 global competition announced its winners with Drew Spahn, a New Jersey design student, taking the top spot with his design concept, “Crosswing.” Spahn created the concept to address the theme, “Respect: Ending Isolation and Conquering the Mobility Divide.”

The company says all 170 entries this year sought to create inclusive mobility for those who are often overlooked when mobility solutions are being designed. For Spahn’s concept, the Crosswing enables people with amputations to move around cities more efficiently by giving them the ability to skate for transport or leisure.

The second-place spot went to Danish design student Stefan Perriard for a car-free city concept, making the future city more about people and less about cars, Michelin said. In third place, Colombian architect and designer Elkin Alejandro Cruz Castro reimagined urban inclusivity through a system that brings flexibility and culture to mobility.

The company says entries came from all over the world from individuals, students, schools and cross-functional teams of designers including professional studios, teachers, artists, architects, engineers and futurists. A panel of eight jurors spent two days judging submissions. The jury was comprised of the following:

• Angela Hariche, CEO, Catapult Design
• Dave Marek, Acura executive creative director, Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
• Craig Metros, design director, NA Truck, S.U.V. & Commercial, Ford Motor Company (retired)
• Damien Michelin, honorary juror, Michelin North America
• Frank Saucedo, design director, General Motors
• Louise Pelletier, directrice, Centre de Design, University Quebec at Montréal
• Stewart Reed, chair, Transportation Design Department, ArtCenter College of Design
• Thomas Sycha, head of MINI exterior design, BMW Group (Europe)
• Freeman Thomas, global advanced design director, Ford Motor Company (retired); CEO, Meyers Manx, Inc.

“Sustainable mobility is a universal opportunity, and that’s what this year’s theme brought,” said Mike Marchand, director of sustainable development and mobility for Michelin North America. “Advancing mobility solutions, particularly for underdeveloped areas of the world is important. To accomplish this, we bring together designers and futurists and city developers — people who can look at the end user experience and make sure that we incorporate the needs of the individual into the ultimate design solution.”

Each year’s Challenge Design theme invites designers to create a sustainable solution for a global mobility challenge, the company says.

Challenge Design was created by Michelin in 2001, and in 2020 became part of the Movin’On Summit, joining the world’s foremost sustainable mobility ecosystem.

The 2021 honorees were announced live from the Movin’On Summit. In addition to the three winners, there were 13 “Judges Awards” that gave honorable mentions to concepts.

Winners

• First place: Drew Spahn, New Jersey, Kean University, for design entry “Crosswing.”
• Second place: Stefan Perriard of Denmark, Royal Danish Academy – Design, for entry “Tramo. Mobility for the car-free city.”
• Third place: Elkin Alejandro Cruz Castro of Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, for design entry “Nomada! Solve the right problem: Urban Inclusivity.”

Judges Awards

• Dragan Mamic of Germany, Pforzheim University, for design entry “Tube – Shuttle for Athletes of the Paralympic Summer Games 2028 in LA.”
• Anatolii Sizov of Ukraine, student of Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts, Ukraine; for design entry “Volkswagen Kalmar.”
• Siavash Jafari Jozani of California, for design entry “T.FLEX.”
• Sebastian Weigand of Germany, graduate of Pforzheim University, for design entry “UX – Urban Sharing Experience.”
• Jung Taek Cho of Republic of South Korea, former student of Department of Graphic Design at Hankyong National University, for design entry “Volvo Atrium.”
• Ivan Galin of Russian Federation, third-year student at Stieglitz Academy, for design entry “Clothing Delivery Vehicles for people with musculoskeletal problems.”
• Kiran Babu, California, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena; for design entry “Concept Holosafe.”
• Benjamin Smith, New Jersey, Michael Graves College of Design at Kean University, for design entry “Clean Slate: the mobile hygienic solution.”
• Loannis Stergiadis of Greece, IAAD University of Torino, for design entry “Volvo Bubble.”
• Seongha Lee of Republic of South Korea, Byunghyun Bae of Incheon of Korea Republic, Byungyoon Jung of Goyang, Korea Republic,
• Minsun Lee of Goyang, Korea Republic all graduates of Kookmin University, South Korea, for design entry “Orbit.”
• Cédric Rouvroy, Henri Oeschlin and Antoine Fornies of France and Alex Luke of India, for design entry “Dystrophic Diseases Project.”
• Hui Ying Hsu, Chen Xiang-Yun and Shih-Hsuan Chiu of Taiwan, for design entry “TeaChair.”
• Gustavo Mejia Perez, Alicia Avila Cruz, Veronica Lizet Avila Baca, Maria Fernanda Lugo Miranda, Pablo Antonio Marroquín Martínez and Mauricio Rodriguez Hernandez, for design entry “Hope.”

The 2022 Movin’On Challenge Design theme will be announced in July. To learn more about this year’s competition, click here.